75 percent of Americans overweight by 2015

[Zywiec]

Two-thirds considered heavy or obese now; rate still increasing, study finds

WASHINGTON - If people keep gaining weight at the current rate, fat will be the norm by 2015, with 75 percent of U.S. adults overweight and 41 percent obese, U.S. researchers predicted on Wednesday.

<snip>

“Obesity is likely to continue to increase, and if nothing is done, it will soon become the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.”


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19845784/

[Mugsy]

1. 2015?

2015? Hell, I'll be overweight by 11:30. :)

[KansDem]

6. You must know of one helluva good breakfast buffet!

Or maybe a pizza buffet? When I was a student, on days when I had no classes or work, I would wait until 11:00am when the pizza parlors would open and gorge myself on cheap pizza with all the fixins.

Then I'd go home and hybernate...

[glowing]

2. Well, throw out the FDA and start over with an agency that really

monitors our food.... Most food Americans can buy is junk... pure, processed garbage.

[Deja Q]

36. Quite. There may be valid reasons why half the labs are being closed.

Seriously.

[dkofos]

3. Not if the Mayan prophecy comes to pass. 12/26/2012

[wildhorses]

7. well, at least we will get to eat christmas dinner

bring us a figgy pudding:P

[Scout]

33. no we won't ... the date is 12/21/12 ... on the solstice! n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

4. I beat them. Already overweight!

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. I, too, beat the rush

[formerrepuke]

5. I've long felt that "gym class" in schools should emphasize health, fitness & proper

nutrution.. INSTEAD of competetive sports activities. It wouldn't prevent obesity in everyone- but it would get young people to realize that they have control over their bodies. For me, 'gym class' always devolved into an alpha-male competition to see who was the fastest/best/strongest/fittest, etc.

[Zywiec]

8. I'm not sure how many people actually take gym class anymore

When I went to high school you only needed to take it one of the three years.

[TahitiNut]

24. I agree. There's very little that's (life-long) "educational" in physical education.

I strongly support an emphasis on life-long individual activities and personal disciplines - such as teaching Yoga, Tai Chi, and proper body mechanics. The commercial corruption of the physical education programs in public schools is appallingly evident - an emphasis on selling equipment. The sporting goods manufacturers rule the curriculum - in competition with the purveyors of junk food.

The infrastructure in our cities and towns don't offer the opportunities for all 20-somethings and 30-somethings and 40-somethings to indulge in the activities 'taught' to grade-school kids. Indeed, those who DO engage in such activities, due to the 'competitive' nature, are in the percentile of the population LEAST in need of such activities. One might opine that the reason they are is because the do participate - but I'd claim it's based on them already being 'better' at it than those needing such activities the most.

I swam in college (I never went to a grade school that had a pool) - and it's next-to-impossible for me to find a convenient and inexpensive place to swim laps in my neighborhood. Even the Y is somewhat costly and VERY limited in the times available to do lap-swimming. (My body mechanics have NEVER been adaptable to running or jogging - congenital scoliosis of the lower lumbar - but swimming suits me perfectly.)

[NeedleCast]

9. Why not just keep lowering the bar

on what makes one fat or overweight until only bulemic super-models on heroin are considered "healthy?"

[ashling]

10. Finally, I'm out in front on something!

I'm obese now!

[Rosemary2205]

11. My husband is in that stat and his body fat is below 10%.

A tall big man with enormous muscles but because his weight is high relation to height he's counted as a fatty, in spite of the fact he's leaner than most lean men. We even had trouble insurance wise and the doctor actually had to send the insurance company a picture to shut them up.

I also know a woman who is thin almost like Ann Coulter is thin, but has very thick bones and was blessed with a bubble butt and enormous breasts. The scale says she's 15# overweight but other than a bonectomy and a boob reduction job losing more weight would put her health at risk. She's really quite thin.

I have no doubt we have a weight problem in the US but the way it's measured is strange.

[Zywiec]

12. What do you think the best way to weigh is?

I know sometimes the BMI isn't accurate, but how else could the government keep track of this? I'm pretty sure most of the people with a high BMI are not like your husband.

[Rosemary2205]

22. Gov't stats are just this side of useless IMHO.

First off, there's no way the government is going to give every single American a physical to see who's really fat and who isn't. They take a small sample and use that to represent the whole country. I have no idea why we accept this method when it's been proven to be inaccurate too many times. - The same method was used to predict John Kerry the winner in 04 and low and behold - pow.

Health and healthcare is just too individualized and complicated for a simple stat.

[unpossibles]

14. great point, although those are obviously the exceptions

I am the little guy in my family despite being 6'2" and having a relatively large skeletal frame, and have weighed as little as 160 in college and I looked like a skeleton because my bones are so big. Even weighing 195 now, my elbows and clavicals stick pretty far out.

[NeedleCast]

23. Same here

I'm around 270 pounds and while I'm somewhat overweight, I'm also very thick trunked. I wear a size 52 to 54 suit. According to the BMI for my height, I should weight 187 pounds. I'd have to be three months dead to ever hit 187 pounds again. At 240 pounds, I have a fairly healthy 18% body fat. At 210 pounds, I'm around 12% body fat.

I had a commander in the military who constantly rode my ass about my weight. Although I always (easily) passed the body fat test, I was always over my allowed weight, regardless of the fact that at 187 pounds, with my frame, I'd look totally emaciated.

[JacquesMolay]

13. Peak Oil is gonna fix that, I'm afraid...

... there's going to be a lot less choices at the Publix.

[depakid]

15. Yep, the fast "food" industry is going to be among the first to suffer

though we can expect much higher food prices across the board....

[JacquesMolay]

25. Higher prices mean less demand ...

... so what I'm driving at is every one is going to have to eat less. As to fast food, every pound of beef sold equals a gallon of gasoline burned in production and transportation. Beef is going to get real expensive, which is going to put a rise in prices on the menu at McDonald's.

[SayWhatYo]

16. Is that a bad thing? :P

[Tyrone Slothrop]

17. Probably not, actually

As food prices continue to climb, the lower and middle classes will be nearly forced onto diets of "filler food" -- that is, amalgamations of chemicals that fill the stomach without providing any nutritional value.

The wealthy will be the only ones able to pay for actual fresh fruits, veggies and meats.

[roody]

19. Plant edible perrenials!!

[Zywiec]

29. Any suggestions for a small garden? n/t

[roody]

30. What is your growing season?

[Zywiec]

31. I'm in the DC area

So I would guess April to October?

[roody]

32. I started with fava beans to enrich my soil. (not perrenials)

I plant them everywhere in the yard. They grow in winter, (I'm in N. Cal) and they do not like the summer. I think they would like DC winter. I don't even gather the seed. The seeds drop and sprout when the rains come in late fall. But where there is summer rain, you should collect and replant in fall or late winter. I also have radish and arugula everywhere that reseeds itself. You might start with the cabbage family in late summer or fall. I have brussel sprouts that are 3 years old. I let everything go to seed. Fruit trees, nuts, berries.

[TahitiNut]

18. Ahhh... the joy of being in the majority.

:puke:
(Something I should do more often?)

[SoCalDem]

20. Perhaps they will have to redefine "normal"..

and start using a true "average" instead of shaming people who cannot meet an unreachable weight set down on paper by some amorphous insurance underwriters somewhere.

I was "out of the loop" fashionwise, for many years, and boy was I shocked to see size 14s being sold in some stores as "plus-sizes". This was especially troubling, since as "today" size 14 is waaaaaay smaller than the size 14's of my youth.

Instead of spending so much time & ink on telling everyone how FAT they are, perhaps they should start doing some investigating the WHY..

As a teen struggling to be sexy and "with it", I was always trying to stay trim, I remember that once, my 24" waist was STILL too big to fit into size 9 jeans I coveted.. I weighed 103, and wore a size 5 when I got married..

I challenge anyone ...take a tape measure with you sometime, and measure the waist of those size 1 pants...I bet it's MORE than 24 inches..

[Zywiec]

27. Use a true average?

Maybe we should do the same with blood pressure, cholesterol, and other measurements. As long as you're average, you must be healthy!

[Johonny]

26. Troubling

Not sure what to do about it.

[OzarkDem]

28. Stress

A couple of recent studies have shown that stress contributes to the body's ability to create fat.

People are overworked and overstressed and don't always have time for quality diet or exercise.

[truebrit71]

34. I have beaten that deadline...

..But then I am a competitive person by nature... :evilgrin:

[Deja Q]

35. What's to get healthy FOR, anyway?

I myself am not terribly bad right now, but where's the incentive to get fit?